NEW HAVEN, Conn. — As New Haven kicks off a new school year, the district is focusing on keeping kids in the classroom.
The superintendent and the mayor visited one of the district’s 41 schools for the first day of class Thursday to make their goals clear and get the kids excited to come to class.
“There’s nothing like the first day. It’s about capturing the energy, the excitement, a little bit of the nervousness too,” said Dr. Madeline Negron, superintendent of New Haven Public Schools.
In her second year as superintendent, Negron is focused on renewed goals from last year, including working on literacy and school attendance.
“Very happy with the progress we made in strengthening student literacy. We will continue with that focus,” Negron said.
Administrators are also trying to cut down on chronic absenteeism, after they said it increased from 36.6% to 37.5% last year. When a student is chronically absent, they’ve missed 10% or more of school. The district has set a goal of reducing it to 20% by 2029.
“We want kids in school. And we want to make sure that we support families that maybe are struggling for some reason to get their kids in school,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
New this year, Negron is putting more attention toward the culture and climate within the schools.
“I want to make sure that every single one of our buildings is a welcoming place. A welcoming place for students, for families. I want kids to feel like they’re connected,” Negron said. “Because that’s what makes a good school culture and climate and we know all of those things are connected, right? When kids feel engaged, we know it will strengthen attendance, and we know it will lead to strong academic outcomes.”
When students don’t come to class, teachers see the impact right away.
“They’re below grade level in most things because they’re not here. So, you have to be here to learn the things. The skills are built upon each other. So if you’re not here, you’re not learning the basics,” said Julia Anthony, a third grade teacher at Mauro Sheridan School.
Ahead of the first day of school, Elicker and other community and district leaders visited families at their homes on Wednesday, handing out school supplies and making sure they were ready for a new beginning.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
MORE NEWS:
---
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com.
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Stream Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.